Art Notes on Texture

Texture refers to how something feels or how it looks like it might feel if touched.
Artists manipulate texture to create specific effects and convey meaning.
This can include creating the appearance of texture, even if it isn't physically present, such as in a painting.
Example: Pablo Picasso's sculpture, "Head of a Woman," has a texture that appears hard or rough.

Tactility is at the core of texture: how something feels or appears to feel.
Example: Constantin Brancusi's sculpture has rough areas and smooth areas, along with a hard edge, demonstrating the manipulation of light and shadow to create texture.

Crosshatching is a shading technique using overlapping lines.
The density of lines determines the value (lightness or darkness) of an area.
Denser lines create darker areas, while spaced-out lines create lighter areas.
This creates a gradient effect.
Example: A face created using crosshatching appears earthy and textural, with interesting tactile qualities.

Impasto involves applying thick coats of paint to manipulate depth.
Visible brushstrokes create highlights and shadows.
This technique emphasizes that it's a painting and creates a specific feeling.
Example: Van Gogh's paintings, like his depiction of shoes, uses impasto. Highlights and shadows from brushstrokes emphasize that the work is a painting and evoke an emotional response (\text{not real shoes}).

Different cultures use textures to convey specific messages.
Various art forms like mosaics, stained glass, relief sculptures, and engravings manipulate how light interacts with surfaces.
Relief sculptures on buildings tell stories through texture.
Stained glass windows are affected by how light passes through colored glass.
Texture can also convey messages about figures, indicating status or importance.

Implied texture is recreating the textural properties of real-life objects in paintings.
Differs from actual texture, like the chunked-out texture of Picasso's sculpture, or the impasto of Van Gogh's work.
Cultural associations are linked to different textures.
Example: In a painting of Napoleon on his imperial throne, gold, velvet, and lace textures imply wealth and power, reflecting cultural symbols of status.

Create your own textured artwork using a rubbing technique.
Place paper over a textured surface (rock, leaf, bark).
Rub the side of a pencil or charcoal across the paper.
This picks up the protruding parts of the design showcasing the surface's texture.

Types of textural techniques (crosshatching, implied texture, actual texture like impasto).
Cultural uses of texture (manipulating light, implying texture to convey cultural associations).
Difference between implied and actual texture.
Creating a design with an emphasis on texture.

Texture is crucial in understanding art, influencing how something feels or appears to feel, and conveying important information.
It helps understand the artist's intentions and emphasizes specific elements.
Example: Deborah Butterfield's horse sculpture uses texture to connect the horse with natural elements, rather than portraying a typical, rideable horse.
Consider what the artist is trying to convey through the use of texture.

Tactility: The degree to which the surface of an object seems to have a particular feel. The thick paint created a sense of tactility to the artwork.
Texture: How something feels or appears to feel. The etching on the pottery creates texture.
Impasto: Thickly applied paint that lets us see brushstrokes. Many abstract expressionists use impasto to show action.
Crosshatching: Shading technique where a set of lines overlaps another set to give the illusion of various values. Crosshatching is frequently used in etchings, engravings, and other printmaking techniques.
Shading: Showing a change from light to darken an object by darkening areas that would have a shadow. Shading gives a flat object the illusion of form.
Tint: Adding white to a color to make it lighter. To make a rose tint, add a little bit of white to red.
Tone: Refers to the light, color, and shade of an object. The tone of Van Gogh's early paintings were quite dark.